I’m SUPER optimistic about open data and civic tech in China. For the last five years I worked for the City of Houston. Among the projects I worked on, I was part of the city/community team that launched Houston’s open data and open innovation hackathon initiatives. I worked with really awesome people and had transformative leaders in Mayor Annise Parker, Council Member Ed Gonzalez, and CFO Kelly Dowe. Not everything worked out well, but we were able to ask why we did things, to experiment, and to empower people to make a difference. These programs allowed us to extend the ability to…

Emily was going through our photos and videos… and thought it was a good time to learn iMovie. Let us know what you think! They met, they fell in love, the got married, they… moved to China! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpgClzZNwVc&feature=youtu.be&w=640]

Reflecting on my trips to parks in Houston, I think of running loops and trails at Memorial Park, watching shows at the Miller Outdoor Theatre, countless leisurely strolls walking Lou dog, as well as eating amazing grilled cheese sandwiches at the Pinewood Cafe in Hermann Park. Plus, there were always great events like the Bayou City Arts Festival and Houston Half Marathon. I love parks! I also love the gōng yuán in China (that would be parks in Pǔtōnghuà (which is Mandarin in Mandarin Chinese)). Gōng yuán, however, seem to have multiple personalities….

Many tourists visiting the Great Wall of China go to the Badaling (restored section of the wall, most visited tourist location too) or Mutianyu (another restored tourist friendly spot with a toboggan ride down). These restored sections do not show the wear and tears on hundreds of years’ time and make for an easy drop-in photoshoot. Our wall photoshoot required hiking boots (seriously). We were lucky to have Matt Zedler, longtime friend and Beijing rock-climber as both our driver and guide (huge thanks to Matt!). Matt brought us to the Huanghuacheng (‘Yellow flower’…